Discover

Today
Animals
Explore
Archive
Search

Use it

Classroom
Resources
Field lab
Quiz
Saved

Trust

Methodology
Sources
Corrections
Accessibility
Contributors

Details

About
Contact
Privacy
Terms
Newsletter

Animal profile

Electric Eel

Electrophorus electricus

ActinopterygiiTurbid, slow-moving fresh water, swamps and floodplain creeks in northern South AmericaLeast Concern

Field profile

The electric eel is not an eel but a knifefish, related to catfishes and carps rather than true eels. Its long body is mostly electric organ, and it breathes air at the surface. Adults can exceed two metres.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-01-21

Electric Eel

The electric eel hijacks its prey's own nerves

An electric eel does not simply stun a fish. Its high-voltage pulses activate the motor neurons of nearby prey directly, causing whole-body muscle contraction, and a doublet of pulses can make a hidden fish twitch and reveal itself.

Read with evidence →

Electric Eel | Daily Animal Facts